Rhydian

[comet]

I finally got Waves, with one of my Christmas present record shop vouchers.
My friends and family know better than to buy me a cd at least with a voucher they know I will get something I really want.

Back to Waves on the ConeHead Label, So SyCo is gone eh ?
this is a good fun album, not to be taken to seriously by the Classical, Opera or Crossover Illuminati
Immediate favourite track, The Promise You Made, Would love to hear Rhydian do this with Hayley on the female vocal part.
have a listen to the original C0CK ROBIN Version I love this song, have it on 7" vinyl and spent quite a while looking for it on cd.

Second favourite song, the Annie Lennox song "No More I Love You"s

I love the wallop and thump of the bass and drums and the spitting treble on the cymbals on this album, real eighties dance music, reminiscent of Donna Summer and Giorgio Morroder, makes me feel right at home, Brings me back to a more innocent time, before obnoxious, in ya face Rap music and "E" and doin' lines, when they still played a slow set in nightclubs.

Only 10 tracks on the album,
You get the feeling Rhydian can't really get going, up to his full capability on some of this material,
Like driving a Lamborghini in a housing estate with kids playing on the road, just can't really let it rip.

[Jeff]

A message from Rhydian regarding his 2015 Autumn tour and his rather special guest.

[martindn]

Good on yer Rhyd!

Martin D

[Jeff]

How nice when a singer keeps fans updated on the progress of their next album !

[Jeff]

I attended Rhydian's "One day like this" tour at Eastleigh last night. The iconic Concorde Club has a rich history as evidenced by the autographed black and white photos of legends of Jazz on the walls of the bar which unfortunately is called "The Mouldy Fig!" Rhydian Roberts is an affable performer who is clearly popular with Welsh ladies of a certain age (who share his hair colour !) and who make up about 75% of his audience. He made a fan's day by singing "Happy Birthday" to her and mentioned another by name as he sung a request. The only other occasion like this I can recall is when Hayley asked Grant to stand and take a bow for attending his 50th concert. Rhydian has an eclectic repertoire including songs by David Bowie (Life on Mars) and my favourite of the night Bob Dylan's "Forever Young." Here's a performance from Cardiff :



His special guest was Lucy Kay who as usual started with a self-deprecating joke that the venue was so cosy and small we might as well be on the stage with her and she could see the expressions on our faces and know if she was off-key ! (She wasn't off-key and she told me in London that she doesn't wear her glasses on stage so everyone's face looks blurred. I suggested contact lenses but her exact response was "I tried them at Halloween but putting them in my eyes made me gag!") Here she performed her usual Bizet and Puccini and had the crowd in stitches with her anecdote about how on BGT Cowell's production team used a backing tape of Queen's "Who wants to live forever?" (superbly covered by Camilla) in the wrong key so it was far too low for her to sing ! Much as we all hate Cowell, I can't repeat Lucy's exact words as the language was a wee bit fruity for this forum and I don't want Richard to get a sore finger by keep pressing his delete button ! She sent me a tweet saying her voice hadn't been too great so felt the first half was a little iffy on some notes and apologised ! I wouldn't have known but who else would do that ? It reminded me of her mum's comment on BGT that "she's better than she thinks she is."

Lucy later duetted with Jodie Steele on "I know him so well" and with Rhydian on "Jerusalem" which he described as sacrilege for a Welshman to sing although to be fair to him he didn't gloat over the England - Wales rugby result although he was wearing a red shirt under what he called his Michael Jackson jacket ! The evening ended as they all joined in with "Nessun Dorma". I had two minor criticisms of the show. The first was the chaotic "reserved" seating, I found a Welsh woman in my "reserved" seat which were not numbered so the floor manager moved me nearer the front when I told him I was a journalist writing a review of the show, admitting he'd made a mistake with his seating plan ! The second was the decibel level which could have been a bit lower. I know some of these operatically trained singers seem to think that the louder they sing the better but they did seem over-amplified at times. Less is more and the low ceiling didn't help.

I didn't meet Rhydian or Lucy afterwards since they had to catch the 2307 train back to London. Instead I met the club manager Jamie who said Lucy was "one sexy lady" (no arguments there, Jamie !) and while waiting for my midnight taxi I had a boozy chat on the sofa in reception with his girlfriend, a 44 year old Amy Winehouse support act but that's another story ! She did look like Amy but she'd spent too long at the bar for her own good ! Suffice to say a good night was had by all !

[grant]

Oct 16, 2015 10:25:22 GMT Jeff said:

He made a fan's day by singing "Happy Birthday" to her and mentioned another by name as he sung a request. The only other occasion like this I can recall is when Hayley asked Grant to stand and take a bow for attending his 50th concert.

Yes! Remember it well

There have been other occasions too. My very first concert was the UNICEF Charity Concert at St James Piccadilly on 22nd September 2005 which Belinda and Kimberley Hutchinson had flown over from New Zealand for. Hayley mentioned them and dedicated "Who Painted The Moon Black" to them. It happened to me again a couple of years later at the second Telford concert on 16th June 2007 when she sang "Abide With Me" as an encore - I had asked if she would sing it a couple of concerts earlier.

Grant